Hey, all! I'm back with a new fic. This one centers Mileena, Kitana, and Sindel. It's labeled an AU for a reason. You'll see why. Think of it as a crack-fic. If ya'll want to see more of this 'verse, just let me know!

I own nothing.

Royal Pain

Sindel found herself lost in thought as she sat on her throne in the Edenian palace. With an elbow propping her chin up, she watched anything and everything around her. She could hear chatter, laughter, yelling. The Queen sighed softly; there was no doubt that her twin daughters were arguing again. Would she dare get in the middle of it again? The last time that she did those three got into an all-out brawl. Needless to say, Sindel was the victor in the end.

Her daughters—Kitana and Mileena, could never see eye to eye. From the time they were toddlers, to the hormonal teens that they were today, neither sister could get along. Sindel knew the cause of it all no matter how much it pained her. Kitana, the elder twin, was beautiful and majestic. Despite the fact that she and her sister were identical twins, there was one distinct difference between the two of them. Mileena had sharp, razor-like fangs, whereas her sister did not. Obviously, there were some Tarkatan roots in the woodworks of the family tree, something Sindel had no idea about until the birth of her girls. This distinction put the Edenian princesses at odds. Mileena was always jealous of her sister's perfect teeth. And this very disdain towards Kitana only worsened as the two aged. Their mother could only break up the fights; no matter how many times she tried to convince Mileena that she was just as beautiful as Kitana, it was to no avail.

"How can you do this?!" Sindel heard from a distance. She scooted to the edge of her throne, listening intently to the conversation. That distraught voice came from none other than Kitana. Just what were her teenagers up to now? Should she have to intervene, this would not end well.

"You needed a new do, dear sister!"

When laughter erupted, the mother knew that it was from Mileena. She had quite the sick sense of humor. A new do? Sindel cupped her hand over her face for a moment. And that was when she heard a thump and many angry yells. Half the time when those two got into fights, it ended in a physical altercation. This was just one of those times.

The white-haired woman quickly came off her throne. This wasn't a time to walk. She floated up in the air and charged to where the sounds were coming from. There stood her twin daughters, beating the crap out of one another. An enraged Sindel came in between Mileena's teleport kick, grabbing her by the foot. Kitana dropped her fans, breathing rather rapidly. Their mother just looked between both girls, noting her older daughter's bad haircut. Instead of her usually long braid, Kitana sported an uneven braid that barely reached her shoulders.

"My gods," Sindel murmured, taking another look between both girls. "What in all Edenia happened here?!"

Kitana huffed a little, crossing her sleeved arms against her chest. "Mileena chopped my hair off while I was sleeping!"

A demonic laugh escaped the younger twin's lips. "Oh, you have way too much hair, Kit. Think of it as a… donation!" She smiled wide, her Tarkatan fangs showing.

"You little—You shall learn respect!" the older twin scooped her fans back up, preparing to attack her sister once more.

"ENOUGH!" Sindel barked, her voice echoing through the room. Her daughters stopped in mid-stride, practically cowering back from their mother's booming voice. When the queen wasn't happy, no one was happy.

"It's just hair," Mileena scoffed, "it'll grow back. No need to be a cry baby!"

Sindel sent her younger daughter a glare, making her eyes avert to the ground. "Mileena, Kitana, can't you two get along for one damn day?"

"Mother—I—"

This time, the queen sent her older twin an equally demeaning glare. "Not a word, either one of you." She whipped her hair around each girl, tossing them to opposite ends of the room. This was what she always had to do. It was the only form of discipline that worked. Well, it didn't really work but it did get them to be quiet for a little while. Mileena and Kitana picked themselves up, heading for their rooms. Sindel would think that they would learn from this, but they never did. Those two always found something to argue about. Mileena was a practical—slightly insane—jokester, and Kitana fell for it every time. Kit tried to make things work with her sister, but she just was having none of it. Their mother grew tired of these shenanigans, but really what more could she do?

o—o—o

Later on in the evening, Kitana and Mileena were finally able to come out of their rooms. It was dinner, which was a formal occasion. The sisters knew better than to act up during this time; guests always came to dinner, meaning the princesses were to be on their very best behavior. Both girls had to bite their tongues many a time; all in all, though, they behaved themselves. Of course, it was more in fear of getting reprimanded in front of company than anything else. Sindel didn't care what she had to do; the royals had to keep their appearance, after all.

The guest list was usually just the guardsmen and women, maybe a few members of their family that would like to attend, too. Kitana's best friend Jade always sat down for dinner with them. Mileena was jealous over her sister's popularity. Even with that jacked-up haircut she gave her, the older twin still got all the attention. Mileena sat down on the opposite side of her sister, sporting a magenta mask and matching dress. She chose to wear her mask at all times, especially for events like these. Kitana didn't have to, though. She wore a dress mirroring Mileena's; only in the blue color she always wore. Sindel watched her twins from the far side of the table, all the while making conversation with her dinner guests.

Jade, who sat next to her best friend, tugged a little at Kitana's uneven braid and gave her a questioning look. "What happened to your hair?" The elder princess shot a glare over to her sister, who just simply shrugged.

"Oh," the tan teen spoke, looking between the siblings before her. She never really understood why Mileena was so ornery towards Kitana. Jade even tried to accept her into their clique, but she refused to even give it a second thought.

The younger twin propped an elbow up on the table, cradling her chin in the palm of her hand. This was boring already. Could she just skip dinner and go straight to sparring? Mileena had a perfect target in mind: A punching bag with her sister's face taped onto it! Yeah, that sounded better than this.

Sindel caught the rude behavior from the corner of her eye. She began to clear her throat, shooting a sideways glance to Mileena. Her daughter, in turn, just rolled her eyes and dropped her elbow. The queen decided to let that last remark slide, but it would still stay fresh in her brain.

Before Mileena could think of anything else to do, the palace cooks began to appear in their assembly line, dropping off food on silver trays all the way down the table. A soft sigh escaped the princess' lips; there was no way she could get out of this now. The mask had to come off, no matter how much Mileena didn't want it to. Sure, all of these people had seen her fangs by now. Didn't mean it was any less than embarrassing. She tried not to let it bother her, or at least she didn't let it show. That was why she always picked on her sister. Anything she could do to make Kitana feel how she felt, she would do it.

The younger sister peeled her mask off hesitantly; making sure no one was watching her as she did so.

Jade actually felt sorry for Mileena. With a heavy frown in place, she gently reached over and tapped her hand. The former yanked her hand back, hissing back at the sudden touch. Startled, the green-eyed teen just tucked herself into the plate that she had made without another word.

Mileena realized that she had drawn unnecessary attention to her fangs and she practically sunk into her chair in embarrassment. Could this day get any worse? She looked to her sister, who she would have loved to snatch up by the hair and rip her throat out. She didn't, though. See! She was growing… okay, maybe not by much. But a little bit went a long way. At least when it came to Mileena and her restraints, it did.

o—o—o

Kitana stretched out on her bed that night, thinking of her sister. Surely, there had to be a way to get through to her. Mileena didn't need to be jealous of her. But how could she make her see that? If she would stop basing everything off of her looks, maybe she could let everyone see the inner beauty that lied within. The older princess groaned quietly, rubbing a hand across her tired golden brown eyes. This wasn't going to be easy. Her sister wasn't exactly right in the head. She had an opinion of her own, and if you didn't like it she was liable to fight you, just to get you to shut up. Kitana didn't always have to fight her sister, but Mileena was always planning something to one-up her. It was sad, really. The Edenian heir was startled out of her thoughts when a knock sounded from the other side of the door. Who could that be? Mother frowned upon visitors after dinner. Unless it wasn't a visitor at all…

"You may come in," she spoke softly, idly twirling around her braided hair with a finger.

It was Mileena who entered her sister's room. The elder twin didn't really know what to think of this. She didn't just pay Kitana visits all willy-nilly like this.

"Hello, dear sister," Mileena chirped. She was hiding a mischievous grin behind her mask, something Kitana would have taken as a warning, had her sister not been hiding it.

"Mileena," the oldest daughter began cautiously, "what brings you here?" She began to scoot forward to the edge of the bed, surprised out of her mind when her sister jumped onto the bed next to her. Kitana's mind was reeling; she should know by now that this was a trap. But this was her sister. And she wanted Mileena to know that she would always be there for her, no matter what terrible things the younger teen did to her.

"I've come to… apologize, for my behavior," Mileena began, ducking her head some. Of course, this was all an act. One that she knew her sister would fall for easily.

Something told Kitana that this was all for show. However, the elder teen just had too big a heart for her own good. She let this slide, not even thinking about what her sister could be cooking up in that manic brain of hers. "Well," Kitana began, turning to face her sister. "I suppose all is forgiven. After all, you do act out for a reason."

The magenta masked teen paused, giving Kitana a perplexed look. She had her hands cupped and nestled in her lap. What the elder twin didn't know was that Mileena had a piece of soggy bubblegum stuck against her palm. When her sister least expected it, that bubblegum would be stuck all up in her hair. When the halfling had an idea, she went to the ends of the time to go through with it. Especially if it meant torturing Kitana a bit. "What ever could you mean, Kit?" Mileena asked, tilting her head quizzically.

The elder princess spared her sister a small smile. "Mil, it's alright. Insecurities aren't that big of a deal," she noted Mileena's golden eyes blazing back at her, but didn't really think anything of it. Maybe if she was gentler with her sister, they could finally get past this sibling rivalry. Kindness was important, after all.

In haste, Mileena got up from her spot on the bed. "I am NOT insecure," she ripped her mask off with the hand that didn't have the bubblegum stuck to it, her already wide mouth spreading into a full Cheshire grin. "I'm beautiful, just the way I am." The younger twin stepped closer to Kitana, running her fingers against her hair. While doing so, Mileena managed to wedge that piece of gum into her hair, stretching it all across her braided hair.

Kitana shoved her sister out of the way, her eyes widening with horror. She felt the stickiness of the gum and immediately reacted to it. But as soon as she let down her braid, all it did was knot her hair up even worse than it already was. Mileena still wore her Cheshire grin while taking in her sister's horror.

"See, sister! I am beautiful. We both have defects, now!"

The elder twin clenched her fist in pure anger. But instead of fighting her sister like usual, she bellowed from the top of her lungs, "MOM!"

Mileena's grin faded in an instant. Kitana's lips quirked up into a tiny smirk. Sindel, on the other hand, she could already feel the headache settling in.